Dreadnaught

Quick one. Does anyone know a reliable architectural technician near Basingstoke in Hampshire or near Cambridge in Cambridgeshire? Work needed: Tweaks to a planning-approved CAD-design for a 3-bed bungalow. Detailing, such as brick counting, metal cladding, and bespoke alu-coping. Take engineering drawings from a timber-frame SE and prepare full-plans building-control drawings. Many thanks!

Oh no, that was just a website tool. The colour palettes seems to be: … much less Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.

Good recommendation. Thanks. I see it comes in matt too and "Dulux Easycare Kitchen paint is an exceptionally tough grease resistant paint.": The colour choice, however, looks a little bit primary but the may just be my screen:

Thank you all. Very helpful. You have certainly got me thinking about the right issues I think. These thoughts have prompted me to rethink the hob's location. My previous idea was to have it against a wall but that is directly beneath a roof window above. I now realise that that roof window might be difficult to clean and may quickly become dirty. Might therefore be better to move the hob to the island (with my vent in the flat ceiling above). I also like the idea of using a wipe-clean gloss paint in the area around the vent itself. Good idea @Conor.

I am no expert. This is my aide memoir. From it: your water could be 50 mm shallower. And spacing of BT Intercom and light circuit could be 100 mm. Don't know about 3-phase.

@vivienz ah, hopefully not. Truth be told, I don't really cook an awful lot so I could probably get by without one at all. I am expecting that this arrangement will be superior to no hood at all and I wondering if it will actually prove surprisingly effective with a decent flow rate using the fan @Mr Punter suggested.. And, after all, I grew up in a house without a cooker hood at all without too many visible effects on the decor. Hmm, perhaps I am deluded.

Thanks @Mr Punter. Helpful. Good point about the hood. I am relying on the fact that the hot cooking-oil should rise up, rather like a mushroom cloud. I have a hunch it will be moderately effective even without a hood. You are quite right, it will need a fairly high flow rate to work well and some escape in the room will be inevitable. Good recommendation on the fan. Looks ideal! As a grease filter, which did you use: fleece, metal or baffle? The baffle one's might look rather nice on show in my ceiling I think.

Sure @Moonshine. I'll send you a PM.

I don't really like the look of cooker hoods, especially those above an island hob. Not to mention that they are expensive. So I have been researching mounting an extractor grill in the ceiling above the hob instead. Seems easy to do. Just mount an egg-crate grill with plenum containing a grease filter in to the ceiling. Run ducting through the web joists to the adjacent utility room and a second exhaust grill. Locate a variable speed fan in the utility room so it is quiet. Put a variable switch near the hob. Flawed idea?

When it comes to Amtico, would it be fair to say that other LVT brands, such as Karndean, Polyflor and Cavalio, are just as good and that they are all somewhat commoditised for a given price point (and wear-layer thickness)? Has anyone any comments about "Click Smart" style products? Are they worth considering?

Very soon after the frame goes up, before any first fix work.

My inexperienced assumption has been: (i) first fix plumbing and electrics (through the web joists); (ii) outer shell walls and ceilings complete; (ii) then MF framing for stud walls. Happy to be corrected.

Me I suspect not. Wisely or not, I am intending to use both (1) resilient bars in key areas; and (2) to use metal framing for all internal stud walls. I think both will necessitate screws.

And what on Earth is the "Mesh Energy Hierarchy" as mentioned in the ToC? Sounds like Doctor Who.

Reviews please. 99p is a lot to stake without reviews

Looking good! May I propose BuildHub-branded honey?

An update from the original poster here. Following my request on 15 November, and with just a little prompting, my local planning department has today confirmed that my planning fee will be refunded (via the Planning Portal). Thanks again everyone for your advice! What happened was that after I had received planning approval (I spoke at the planning meeting and witnessed the unanimous vote in favour) but before receiving the formal letter from the head of the planning department, my planning officer emailed as follows: Following your collective advice, I of course politely declined to confirm any such thing. And as soon as I received the decision letter, I emailed asking for my fee to be refunded.

@Russell griffiths, which boards will you be using, not Fermacell?

Perhaps modern minimalism has had its day: time to embrace ornamentation again. And I love the hashtag #DotD (downpipe-of-the-day). And I'd love to have downpipes like this…

@Visti, @Russdl, will you both be choosing square edged boards (over tapered edge)? Can see the point of tapered edge myself. It seems to a product only for those transitioning from conventional drywalling and used to tapered edge. And what did you think of using 10mm board vs 12.5 mm? I assume you are intending to use Fermacel everywhere, even on ceilings, in which case would have you ordered some 12.5 mm and some 10 mm? And you won't be using a different board for the first layer where you will be doubling up for acoustic reasons, such as Gypwall Soundbloc?

My situation is also different from yours @Visti if understood your intensions correctly, but I think closer to that of @Russdl. I intend to DIY the boarding of my house so choosing a board size that I can handle myself (or with one other) is paramount, whereas I think you are going to use a contractor team for yours.

Yes, I just chose the first supplier I found on the Internet (actually the second). Good to hear that I can probably get them cheaper from other suppliers. The intent was to start understanding relative prices of different size and thickness of boards. And of course, as I only used information from one supplier and one point in time, the results might be subject to one-off factors. Don't know how many boards I will need yet (I have not yet done my version of your earlier splendid spreadsheet) but if I remember the size of your house correctly my guess is that I will need about half your number.

Here are the numbers I prepared:

I looked recently at Fermacel prices and prepared a small spreadsheet (see next post). I concluded that 10mm boards were probably the best option from weight and cost. And then I could double-up in locations that required higher sound attenuation. That way I could just buy a single board for use everywhere. The optimum board size and cost was: 1200 x 800 x 10 at 11 kg per board and £7.23 per m². A pallet of such boards was: 60 boards at 0.7 tonnes, so I am maybe thinking of getting them on the slab before the frame goes up (!) Interestingly, the one-man boards in 12.5 mm were much more expensive per m² as I assume they are a special order item.

I bought all my Philips Hue bits on eBay secondhand. I am trialling at present with just four bulbs, a switch, a motion sensor and the hub. Works well. I really like the idea that when I sell the house I just need to remove all the Hue bulbs, switches, motion sensors and other gubbins and leave with them all in a carrier bag or two, reverting the house lighting to a normal non-automated setup for the new buyer.